Fasteners of various configurations are known for fastening relatively thick workpieces, such as boards made of plywood or plasterboard, to various substrates, such as metal framing members, wooden framing members, and wooden underlayments. Commonly, such fasteners have elongate shanks defining axes and are designed to be axially driven by powered tools, such as pneumatically powered tools or combustion-powered tools.
Generally, heretofore, it has been necessary to use fasteners of different configurations for fastening such relatively thick workpieces to relatively thick, wooden substrates, such as wooden framing members and wooden underlayments, and for fastening such relatively thick workpieces to relatively thin, metal substrates, such as metal framing members.
A fastener having a tapered shank, a series of rings or ridges along the tapered shank, and helical grooves along the series of rings or ridges and appearing to be particularly useful for fastening a wooden board to a wooden underlayment is disclosed in Rockenfeller et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,802. The fastener disclosed therein does not appear to be alternatively useful for fastening a relatively thick workpiece, such as a wooden board, to a relatively thin, metal substrate, such as a metal framing member.
Fasteners of various configurations for fastening relatively thick workpieces to metal substrates having relatively thin walls are exemplified in Rosenberg U.S. Pat. No. 1,912,222, von Mertens U.S. Pat. No. 2,075,411, and Hayes U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,073.